Naruto's Past
by manga.geek.3
Summary: Time-Travel. Definitely Fluff. Naruto is flown into the depths of time and space and ends up meeting his father, Minato aka the 4th Hokage, with a couple twists along the way!
1. Prologue

**Hey All! Welcome to my new story that I'm kinda excited about :D As you read in the description, this is a time-travel series. It's mostly intended to be fluff, however there is gonna be a plot to it. I don't have a plan for a specific time period for when I will update this as I'm writing it for fun and as a relief from my FMAB fic that is rather angsty. In any case, I hope you enjoy!**

 **P.S. I do not own Naruto! I just love his world so I am writing about it xD**

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Nagato slumped down in the machine he was hooked up to.

"You really are a curious fellow." He barely paused in his speech, "You remind me of myself when I was younger."

"Nagato." Konan supplied, her soft gaze carefully watching her best friend.

"I wasn't able to continue believing in Jiraiya's idea's." Nagato continued speaking as if Konan never said a word, though he slumped a little further, "nor could I keep believing in myself. But… you give me a different vision of the future that shows a different path from the one I've walked." At a steady pace, Nagato pulled his hands out of the devices they were currently stuck in, no sounds of pain crossing his voice at the action. Naruto dared not move an inch, though he couldn't help his eyes widen at the sight, "I think I shall believe in you after all, Naruto Uzumaki."

Nagato opened his eyes to gaze at his fellow sibling student. He then brought his hands together to make a familiar sign for a jutsu he'd long since prepared for for a different reason entirely. "I'll use gedo art of rinne rebirth."

Naruto could only watch what was going on. Though he was prepared to fight, he couldn't explain the feeling deep within his gut to not move an inch and watch what would happen next.

"Nagato! You can't!" Konan cried out, terrified.

"No, Konan. It's alright. .All I'm going to do is make a new choice!" Nagato's hands shook as he prepared the jutsu, "even though I'd all but given up hope."

"What is it?" Naruto piped up, scared of the consequences of not doing anything, "what kind of jutsu are you doing?"

Konan resigned herself to the answer she was about to give. She glanced at him, inwardly amazed that a young boy like Naruto could change Nagato so completely as to instantly reroute his opinion of what the future would hold.

"Those who possess the rinnegan, can perform all of the jutsu the six pains used, and are said to exist outside the realm of life and death. Nagato's visual prowess itself is the jutsu that preside over life and death. He is the seventh pain."

Naruto gasped, as Nagato struggled to gather the chakra necessary to perform the jutsu. "Gedo," Nagato gasped.

Konan once more warily watch her best friend. _If he performs the jutsu with his currently level of chakra, Nagato will…. He's willing to go that far for that child. This mysterious child has_ changed _Nagato._ Konan could feel sadness creep up, wishing she didn't have to say goodbye to the only living best friend she had left in the world. Naruto, watching from his position, could only watch helplessly as Nagato then activated the jutsu.

"I'm also going to give you a gift, Naruto, one that will not only help you along your journey, but also give back what was taken away from you so long ago." Nagato gasped, shaking wildly, his concentration then laying hold strictly upon his actions. Both Naruto and Konan furrowed their brows in confusion.

In a village not far off, full of destruction, waste, and death, a massive creature like building appeared out of the ground, the mouth opening to lay against the ground. The villagers watched, confused, as the three story "thing" (as most called it, unsure of what it actually was and what it actually did) proceeded to expand as if collecting air, then suddenly, so quick some wondered if they even saw the process, it began to spit green light from its mouth. Individual green lights swarmed the broken area, smacking into the dead viciously. Many villagers cried out, not sure how to defend themselves against the attack, before they realized they weren't in any danger at all.

"What's he doing? What just happened!" Naruto demanded of Konan, feeling wary, if not a bit scared of what he allowed to happen. Nagato looked ghastly, his white hair falling into his face. Konan only looked away, unable to look Naruto in the face.

Suddenly, appearing out of nowhere, Lady Katsuyu popped out of Naruto's shirt, crying out in amazement,

"Naruto! More and more villagers are coming back to life!" Naruto watched the slug on his shoulder in shock,

"What! Seriously?" He looked at Nagato once more, a feeling of gratitude welling up within his chest (though the anger that presided far outweighed the gratitude) when he was suddenly knocked off balance as something hit him in the back. Lady Katsuyu was thrown wildly from his shoulder, landing on the ground near one of the "tree" walls.

Naruto, shocked, stood slightly hunched over, staring at his body which glowed a superficial green hue. Only when he heard Konan gasp did he glance up in fright.

"What did you do, Nagato!" His voice wretched out with a strangled sort of desperation. "Nagato! Why am I glowing? What's going on?" Fear and anger combined, lacing Naruto's heart so fiercely he thought he was going to puke.

"I already told you," Nagato wheezed out the remaining breaths he contained, "it's a gift to you. It's the least I could do for you and your village." Naruto watched in horror as the words that Nagato continued speaking faded away from his ears. It was with greater horror that his surroundings began to fade away as well, vanishing from his sight as if they never existed in the first pace. He glanced to where Lady Katsuyu spoke frantically, trying to quickly move her way towards him, but her words were lost on him. Then, as quickly as they were in his sight, they were gone, and Naruto knew no more.

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 **Please R &R to tell me what you think so far! This prologue is essentially a recap of events you're already aware of, but from that point on, it won't be. ^-^**


	2. Chapter 1

**Thank you so much for all who reviewed, favorited, and followed! You're awesome!**

 **I've been dying to post this, but figured it'd be good to leave a few days in-between my last post xD Don't expect posts this fast! But I felt that you all deserved a finished chapter posted. Keep in mind that this story is going to be suuuuper fluffy, with only a few hiccups along the way. So enjoy!**

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Naruto blinked, as his vision began to take focus once again. The sights around him began to take root, and Naruto saw that he was once again, on top of the hill overlooking the village. Though, the trees seemed smaller, somehow. Wearily, Naruto stumbled from his spot, his vision blurry.

'What…?" He mumbled to himself, slightly disoriented. If the only thing that Nagato did was cause that they could both disappear, then there had been no need for such a show. He was willing to let them go anyway, especially after giving his precious people, his village, their lives back.

Remembering that his fellow shinobi were once again among the living, Naruto realized how much he wanted to see his friends once again. He still had the image of his village, a gaping hole smack-dab in the middle of what was supposed to be bustling streets full of merchants and shops and people laughing. The sensation of his comrades, Kakashi-sensei, laying so still and lifeless with not an ounce of chakra flowing within them, still so fresh in his mind. He had to see if what Lady Katsuyu said was true. He was too weak to go into sage mode at the moment, but he determined to not let that stop him from seeing with his own eyes what his ears couldn't believe.

However, Naruto only took a couple steps before he his knees buckled from beneath him. Falling to his hands and knees, sweat dripping off his face, Naruto gasped from exhaustion. After how many times he'd had to go into sage mode, not to mention the internal fight with the kyuubi, the overwhelming sensation of realizing he was not just some orphan, then once again fighting for not only his own life, but making sure that they didn't continue to go after his village; he had people to protect.

Naruto coughed, his arms shaking, before he finally decided to take a rest before he continued on down towards his village. _Man_ he queried with himself _Whatever Nagato did to me made it really hard to want to even move. What the hell_ he groaned at himself. Yes, he was tired, but this seemed ridiculous. Huffing to regain energy, Naruto looked at the sky, dusk settling in as night time crawled forward. If he could only go into sage mode, he'd know right this very minute whether or not Kakashi-sensei was alive. He wasn't sure if he could handle having another person so dear to him die. He was able to cover up his grief before by fighting Pein, but without the distraction? Well.

"What is with this shinobi world." Naruto grumbled to himself, "if all there is is death, then was it really worth it?" He promised Nagato that he'd change the shinobi world, that he'd take on his hate, that Nagato should believe in him. He never went back on a promise, but there were times when it was hard not to doubt himself when so much destruction around him told the story of the impossible.

"No! I will defeat the impossible!" Groaning, Naruto shakily sat himself up, gazing over the lands, seeing his home in the distance. Even if he had to use up what was left of his strength, he would make it home before he passed out.

Slowly, at an insufferable pace, Naruto made his way to his village. Night-time had soon reared its head, causing shadows to play tricks upon his mind. Sometimes Naruto would see his comrades, or Pervy Sage, other times, he would see Sasuke, dressed in that awful garb, glaring at him with those sharingan eyes. It was enough to make his head spin.

Naruto hopped onto the top of one of the tree's to get a better view of where he was. In the not so far distance, now, he could see the lights from the village more clearly. He was almost home. Relief flooded his system. He just wanted to see his friends again. If he was going to die (as dramatic as that sentiment was) that was his last wish.

Half laughing to himself, Naruto shook his head at his own antics, immediately regretting the action as he felt a massive headache coming on.

"Ugh, maybe I can get Granny Tsunade to ease it up a bit." He muttered aloud, hardly remembering how out of chakra the Fifth Hokage was. "Heh," Naruto grunted as he shuffled along slowly, "maybe I'll get a date out of Sakura for this." The joke fell flat, even to his own ears. Having no one else around made things far more boring than he remembered. Not that Naruto wasn't grateful, after all the havoc that he'd stumbled into. He cursed silently, thinking back on how late he entered the fighting. If only he had been there earlier, so many people wouldn't have had to die, or get hurt. Hinata wouldn't have…

"No use thinking of what ifs, Naruto. What's done is done. Quit blaming yourself." It was a terrible habit Naruto had, blaming himself for others actions. So many instances he could think of: Sasuke becoming a missing-nin, almost killing Pervy Sage, letting Hinata hurt herself so perilously for his sake. His shoulders shook, remembering the countless times he'd let someone get hurt because of him. He would never let himself be so vulnerable again.

The night passed on slowly as Naruto made his way back to the village. When the moon was high in the sky, the air having a slight chill, the stars shining brilliantly, that was when Naruto was able to finally see the doors leading into Konoha. Unable to move any further, and with the satisfaction of knowing he'd made it home (somebody _must_ be looking for him, right? It was a depressing thought to think otherwise,) Naruto finally collapsed, unconscious before he hit the ground.

"...uto?" Naruto twitched, his mind fuzzy. The smell of pine was distinctly crossing his senses as he began to wake up. His fuzzy mind was having to work overdrive to remember what had happened, and it took him a moment longer than that to realize he wasn't alone.

His eyes popped open with a snap, coming into focus to see the greenery of the forest surrounding Konoha, the person who woke him up had a hand on his shoulder. Tensing, Naruto slowly began coming up with a plan in case he needed to fight this man. He could've rolled his eyes at that. Surely, if the person was a shinobi, then they would immediately notice the change in his posture; not that Naruto was thinking clearly upon waking up.

As quick as he could possibly be in the morning, Naruto was soon in a defensive stance, one hand touching the ground, the other reaching for his kunai. He barely registered the face of the man in front of him as he spoke.

"Whoever you are, you better watch out. I won't hesitate to hurt you." His eyes were narrowed, before he saw the man raise his hands in surrender. The soft morning light made it difficult to see him, but Naruto couldn't help feeling a sense of familiarity in the man.

"Whoa, careful where you send your threats. One might think you were an enemy." The man smiled, his voice telling. Naruto blinked in surprise, pausing in his actions, taking a minute before he spoke.

"...Dad?" Not surprisingly, his voice held one of question. It was a wonder that he'd forgotten to say 'yondaime hokage'.

"So, you do recognize me." The man-Minato, his father ( _his father!_ ) finally let his hands fall to his sides, not moving from his spot, watching Naruto intently.

Naruto stared right back, still in defensive mode, his eyes narrowed.

"That's not possible." He finally said aloud, "whoever you are, I don't appreciate what you've done, or how you figured out who my father is. Either way, you won't live long enough to tell your story." Lies. He'd knock the man unconscious at the most. Naruto brought his hands up in a familiar stance, before shouting out his signature move, "multi-shadow clone jutsu!" Instantly, at least a hundred clones of himself appeared in the clearing, surrounding them both.

Without waiting to hear a response from the Yondaime copycat, Naruto attacked. However, to his ultimate surprise, the man moved quicker than Naruto could see, taking out most of his clones in a matter of seconds.

"Is that enough proof for you?" The man looked his way, amusement crossing his features. The look irritated Naruto. How dare this man impersonate his father? His blood boiled as he sent another round of clones to attack the man. To his surprise, the man pulled a move that Naruto knew only three other people could do. Two of them were dead, while the other was barely old enough to have enough chakra for the move.

Memories of the impact from the rasengan assaulted Naruto, and he stared incredulously.

"Where did you learn that move!" He demanded, angry that someone else could use his father's move. Not that it was subject to only him, but the very idea that someone had snooped around and took something precious from Naruto irritated him further. So far, his morning was not turning out to be a good one.

"How the hell do you know that jutsu?" He watched the impersonator carefully. The man simply shrugged, carelessly.

"Well, I created it." A bird tweeted in the air. A fox scurried across the forest floor. A bunny hopped out of a hole and into the darkness of the forest. The gates of Konoha stood in all their grandeur, and Naruto half wondered why no one was coming to back him up. He glanced towards his home, only then noticing the difference.

Konoha was not a massive pit of destruction. In fact, there were no signs of distress whatsoever. Nobody frantic, running about, making repairs. No medical nins rushing to heal those who had been injured. Nothing. It was as if his fight against Pein was all for nothing. Naruto glanced at the man impersonating the Yondaime, suddenly wondering if it were even possible for him to be the real thing. The man stared at him intently, gauging his reaction.

"What's going on?" He asked cautiously, hardly daring to hear the answer, "how is this…" Naruto could hardly get the question out in the air, his confusion and fear rising. How was he going to protect his friends, his village, if he was stuck somewhere in the past? How could he live in this era, pretending that everything was all hunky-dory, while his friends struggled to live in his time? His presence in the past had to be a trick. Or rather, a genjutsu. As soon as the idea struck him, Naruto performed the familiar finger signs.

"Kai!" He yelled, noticing the fail of being released from the genjutsu. He tried this a few more times before Minato finally spoke up.

"This is not a genjutsu." His gaze was soft, with an edge of sadness to it.

"But… how…?" He asked once again. "It's not… possible. You shouldn't be alive…" The last was stated more to himself, not realizing a crucial detail about his father's life he'd just given away.

"I'm afraid I am quite real, and quite alive."

"Wait," Naruto brought his attention fully upon his father, "how do you know who I am? How do you know my name? You were saying my name when you woke me up. So, how?" Naruto's heart pounded, awaiting the answer. As far as he knew, the only time he'd ever seen his father was the day before, when he had almost given in to the kyuubi. He shuddered, remembering the pain.

"I'm not certain how it is you came here, but how I know you is pretty simple. It would seem time-traveling is a family trait."

Naruto's brow furrowed, "what do you mean?"

"Well, the thing is, I have been to the future. Although, I landed in a time after you came to the past."

"What?" It seemed that that was the only response Naruto could come up with. This almost felt like too much.

"No matter. What's important is that you are here now, and I feel privileged to see you; however peculiar the circumstances."

Naruto stared. Not that he could have done any more than that. The whole situation was surreal. His father was standing in front of him. The man he had met through his kyuubi seal just the day before. A man who, until recently, he had known as the Fourth Hokage. A wave of dizziness fell over Naruto, and he stumbled forward, his eyes seeing spots. His expectations of hitting his face on the leafy ground were left empty, as arms encircled him, holding him up. Surprised, Naruto looked up into his father's caring face, something Naruto had rarely seen on the faces of his comrades.

Uncomfortable, he pulled away, choosing to sit on the ground instead. Minato, himself unsure of what he should be doing for his son, allowed for the separation, a swell of sadness coursing through him. One look at the boy and it was obvious he'd been through more than his fair share of ordeals. He briefly remembered his son from the future telling him of some of the things he had to do to save his comrades and their village, and once again pride and awe filled his soul.

It was only after a few minutes of wallowing in his confusion that Naruto realized he was being pulled to his feet. He watched his father, unconscious of his mouth hanging open as he felt a wave of uncertainties rush through him.

"This is too weird," Naruto finally said aloud, his voice squeaking in betrayal of his self-preservation.

"Tell me about it," Minato, his _father_ , agreed, his smile sincere. "Now, why don't we head back to my place. I have no doubt that Kushina would love to meet you."

Though Minato had urged Naruto forward, those words stopped him.

"You mean my….?" Naruto dared to hope, hardly dared to breathe.

"That's right. I think it's about time you met your mother." His father gave such a smile that it reminded Naruto of Kakashi-sensei's eye smile. He had half a mind to wonder if that's where his sensei had gotten it from.

 _Kurama couldn't think. He wasn't sure what had happened. First, he had almost succeeded in overcoming his host and freeing himself from his prison. Then, the next thing he knew, he was surrounded by darkness. Darkness that gave him no indication whether it connected to his jinchuriki or not. No sound reverberated. No echoes. It was as if he were stuck in a void of nothingness. Not even the dank bars of his prison appeared before his face._

" _Oi! Baka!" He yelled out. Nothing. Not an irritated growl, not a squabble at being called an idiot; not even the rumblings that came from the kits stomach sounded back to him. In fact, he couldn't even see an inch in front of him._

 _Kurama tried lifting a paw in front of his face, but saw nothing._

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 **Please read and review! You all are amazing!**


	3. Chapter 2

Kushina stood there, staring at Naruto, looking him up and down as she circled him. He stood nervously, fidgeting. Kushina was currently giving Naruto the critical eye, and he felt like he had something he was supposed to live up to.

"It's uncanny," she muttered, once again in front of his face, looking intently into his eyes, "You know, Minato has come up with some crazy things, but this… bringing you home… you look just like him, ya know."

"Heh, yeah," Naruto laughed half-heartedly. He rubbed the back of his head, a nervous tick he'd had since he was a child. He had many of those.

"Well, I did tell you about my experience once before." Minato chimed in, amusement at his wife's antics alighting his eyes.

"Sure you did! But that doesn't mean I believed it, ya know." At Minato's pout, Kushina back-tracked, "Well, okay. That's not quite true. It just seemed so unbelievable that it was hard to believe! Ya know?"

"I'm pretty sure you gave me the same answer two different ways." Came his pouted response. Kushina simply rolled her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him before winking in Naruto's direction. Naruto, for all that he was ecstatic to be there, still felt like he was in a state of awe. As if he couldn't quite believe what he was seeing, himself.

The look on his mother's face - _his mother! He had a mother! And oh what beautiful hair she had_ \- when he first walked into their home; it was like nothing he'd ever felt before and tears fell shamelessly down his cheeks. This was after she'd stood, stalk still, at the similarities between father and son.

" _Minato, who-?"_ She'd said, very first. She'd looked between them both until Minato, his tou-chan, sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and proceeded to remind her about his experience he'd had when he was younger. Apparently he'd talked to her all about it, and all Naruto could do was stare in awe. His heart fluttered to hear his father talking about the man who had become his son. _Him._ That was when he had allowed himself some tears.

Really, it was all he could do not to break down into tears once again. Watching two people that cared about him the absolute most, stand there, breathing the same air he did. It was surely a blessing. And Naruto knew about those. He had very little of them in his lifetime (though they were beginning to grow more frequent the older he got.) In the moment, he couldn't care less what this could do to the future. Meeting his family… this was not something anyone would normally get an opportunity for. Especially when they were long since passed on.

"Well now, kiddo, what say we get some breakfast!" Kushina turned on her heels without waiting for an answer, and Minato gestured an arm for Naruto to follow after. Naruto felt his stomach flip-flop at the suggestion for breakfast. He'd never had anyone ask to eat breakfast with him before. The only times he ever ate with someone in the morning was with the Pervy Sage, and that was just because they were on the road together. Same reasoning with Kakashi, Sakura, and the Bakayarō-Sasuke. Never had someone _voluntarily_ wanted breakfast with him. What a sorry thought that was. The slight slump of his shoulders, though hardly noticeable, Minato still picked up on the gesture and concern welled up within him. Despite meeting his son in the future, that man had such an aura of confidence that seeing him right then and there with such a stark contrast, Minato had to wonder just what he'd gone through to have such weight on his shoulders.

Despite his own appearance into the future, Minato knew very little about his son. The man he'd met in the future had delved very little into his past life, and talked frequently about his current family and friends and the special bonds he was able to make throughout the years. Minato _was_ able to gather that his death must have played a large part into this. After all, he'd kinda snuck into the Hokage's office one night while his son was working late to gain light on a history that his son was unwilling to share with him. That had been the shocker of a lifetime. Learning of his death in succession to learning about his reign as Hokage; it'd left him with conflicted feelings that he'd long since come to terms with.

Now, Minato watched his son shuffle into the comfortably sized kitchen and slink into a seat with eyes lit up like a child's. This sight, too, left him with conflicted feelings. Nevertheless, perhaps now he'd be able to get to know his son in a way he'd been unable to before. The prospect left a flutter of excitement within him.

Kushina, fumbling about the kitchen, could be heard mumbling by both men about some such nonsense as to where all the necessary pans and ladles were located in order to cook breakfast.

"So… is mom a good cook?" Naruto emphasized 'mom' almost with a lilting question in his voice. It was surreal; sitting at a table with the two people he never thought he'd meet. After all, who could have imagined that time travel was possible? Naruto fidgeted, his eyes focused on his fingers. Minato smiled softly.

"She's the best cook in the world. Even rivals Ichiraku's." Naruto whipped his head towards his father, eyes wide.

"Are you serious?" He asked, disbelieving, "I find that hard to believe." Minato shrugged at his disbelief.

"Well, I'm only stating what you've said. Though it doesn't take a lot to convince me." He winked at Naruto, who narrowed his eyes.

"So… how far, exactly, did you go into the future?"

"Far enough."

Naruto stared at his father's smiling face, calculating. Obviously the man wasn't wanting to talk about the future. Hopefully that wasn't a foreboding for what was to come. As he opened his mouth to say something, his mother spoke up. Relief flooded Minato's being, as he wasn't sure what he wanted to say about that particular time travel. He grudgingly admitted that not giving information was the better route to go. Though, he conceded, if Naruto was anything like him, the boy would find out some details one way or another.

"I hope you like pork! I have lots of it, so you get some." Kushina cheekily smiled as she stirred the soup.

"You bet I do!" Naruto replied, enthused, even though he felt a hesitance in the whole scenario. Even using all his strength with his chakra, a part of him felt this was still too good to be true. Meeting his parents… he'd met his dad through the seal just a day ago and so, to have him suddenly here, in the flesh, both parents giving him what he had always wanted… he wouldn't put it past the Akatsuki to mess with him psychologically. Except, he was _so sure_ that Nagato had changed. Even Tsunade baa-chan's slug had confirmed that fact. She wouldn't say such things to trick him. He watched his mother stirring the broth, smiling as she listened to them talking. The bastard would _pay_ if this was a genjutsu.

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 **In The Future; Soon After Naruto's Disappearance**

"What are you saying!" Sakura demanded of the slug that lay in the middle of a circle of Naruto's fellow shinobi mates. Initially, Katsuyu had informed Sakura of Naruto's disappearance following the revival of the Konoha village, but had been unable to inform her of any more details as Sakura griped in shock at the news, rushing to gather her fellow shinobi together so they could all ask their questions only the once, rather than Katsuyu answering the same question over and over. The group consisted of Konoha's rookie nine, Kakashi, Team Might Gai, Shikaku, Inoichi, Shizune, Ibiki, and several other shinobi.

"Naruto had convinced the seventh Pein to stop his attack, and around the same time he brought the lives of the villagers back, he said he had a gift for Naruto. He was hit with the same green chakra that the dead bodies were hit with, and that knocked me off. It's why I wasn't with him when he disappeared."

"Is he alright?" Hinata asked, weakly. She was sitting on the ground, her back against a rock. One of the members of the Hyūga clan bent down, worriedly.

"Lady Hinata!" He softly proclaimed, hands almost touching her, but keeping a small distance.

"I'm fine," She whispered. Kiba growled in frustration, his hand clenching against Akamaru's fur.

"That numbskull finds trouble wherever he goes." The Inu clan shinobi muttered, his furrowed brow giving away his own worry.

"I don't know," Katsuyu responded to Hinata's question truthfully.

"This could be problematic," Shikamaru chimed in, frowning as he looked behind him; contemplative. The others followed suit, noticing all the fallen villagers come back to life. The buzzing sound of their lives filled the void of their village, some still in shock that they no longer had a home to go to.

"Is there a way to bring him back? Do you know the jutsu that Pein did on Naruto?" Kiba asked again. Or rather, a demand seemed to be on the edge of his tone. Katsuyu lowered her eyes.

"I do not know the jutsu that Pein used. Only that it took up the entirety of his chakra. Perhaps if he had not been so exhausted beforehand, he wouldn't have died, but… right now, we'll just have to believe in Naruto."

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. Sakura groaned and hit her forehead while the others shifted uncomfortably in their spots. It was obvious the adults were unhappy with this new unfolding of events.

"Of course Naruto would get himself into trouble like this," Sakura muttered in her worry. The other member of team seven really cared for his well-being, despite the strength she splayed against him probably too frequently.

"I…" Hinata began, coughing and swatting a hand away from her caring Hyūga clan member, "I believe in Naruto."

"So do I," Neji, who had been a silent observer until then, put in his thought, "Naruto is a resourceful shinobi, and quite adept at his fighting skills. He has an ability to make the impossible possible."

"I agree," Shino spoke softly, "Why? Because Naruto was able to change even the mind of the seventh Pein."

"Naruto works miracles," Sai, ever the stoic presence, smiled his words, as if he wasn't quite sure what face he needed to be wearing in that instance.

"Is.. there anything we can do to bring him back? Surely there must be!" Ino's confidence fell flat by the end. None of them had ever encountered this problem before.

Kakashi, having stood next to Sakura and listening to the proceedings of the goings on for the group, for once did not have his trademark book out, "Well, considering the circumstances, we'll just have to deal with what's right in front of us right now,"

"I agree. There's nothing we can do about Naruto's current position right now-" Shikaku began, before Kiba interrupted,

"Wait! Are you saying we just forget about Naruto?" His righteous indignation was commendable.

"No, that's not what we're saying," Inoichi chimed in, taking to calming the hot-blooded Inuzuka, "But right now, we've got a lot of cleaning up to do, and places of rest to set up. We'll continue to delve into what's happened with Naruto, but it is more than likely going to take time."

"Especially considering as of right now, the only information we have is that the jutsu used killed the user. It's too dangerous to take lightly." Shikaku pointed out.

"But we can't just sit here and wait-!" Kiba had begun another rant, but their little group had been interrupted when Danzo, a man that seemed to be more bandages than human, nudged himself past the tight circle.

"That's exactly what you're going to do." His cane tapped an irritating thrum against the ground as he made his way into the middle. Intentionally placing himself as the center of attention. "Naruto may be the hero of today, but he's too risky a pawn to be risking the lives of the rest of our valuable shinobi." A small shock could be heard within the group of shinobi. Mostly from the rookie nine, themselves. The whole of them had grown angry throughout the tiny speech, but it was Sakura, face full of rage and fists ready to pound, who stepped forward with aggressive protest, before Kakashi whipped his arm out in front of her, 'causing an abrupt stop from her intended wrath. He watched Danzo with narrowed eyes.

"We know and appreciate that you care about our village, Danzo, but we do need to have a small party of shinobi bring Naruto back."

"And when that time comes, we will delegate the shinobi to do that very task. Until then, we need all of you to help rebuild our home."

"Pardon me for interrupting," Shikaku, observing the intensity of killing intent radiating from each of the younger shinobi, stepped forward himself, "But when that time comes, we will certainly make sure to take up that task to our Lady Hokage."

"Tsunade is currently in a coma. If she wakes up, that's perfectly acceptable. Until then, I am acting hokage. It may be that I become even the sixth hokage if Tsunade doesn't wake up." A shocked outrage burst from the lips of the young chunin shinobi. The jounin had better tact than to verbalize their surprise; but surprise it definitely was. No one had imagined that Danzo would be their sixth hokage. Especially since Tsunade had seemed so alive and full of energy. That is… until Pein's attack. It was easy to see on each of the young shinobi's faces that they were not happy with this new development. Especially Sakura who had come to have a close relationship with Lady Tsunade.

"There's much to be done." Danzo turned his piercing gaze towards Sai, the two having a staring contest, before he slowly made his way out of the middle of their group, and they all watched him go, silent frowns on each face. Well, the other jonin watched contemplatively, if not a little suspiciously. The man had a conspiratorial aura, and felt no need to hide his greed from anyone. It was dangerous to show himself to this particular group, as each of them had no real desire to want to follow him, but knew that if he was delegated the title of Hokage, they'd be unable to disobey. At least… not directly. Not without a plan. Naruto was too precious to them to let this man, who saw their friend as nothing other than a weapon, use him for his own purposes. Danzo would do that. It was a worry that none of them really wanted to have on their shoulders, but would willingly do so if it came to that.

Shikamaru knew that if it came down to it, he had several plans already in place on how they would go about watching out for Naruto. Now… if only the knucklehead would come back home, they'd have one less thing to worry about. It worried him, what Pein might have done to Naruto. Whatever this gift was, Shikamaru hoped it wasn't damaging to his friend and future leader.

 _Rage filled the massive beast. He wasn't sure if time was moving forward, and if it was, what his existence meant in the vast nothingness that was his new home. Whatever the damn brat had done had left Kurama stranded. If that's what it could even be called._

 _No matter how many times he called out to the baka; no matter how many times he threatened the orange clad, annoyingly frustrating ninja, the kid never answered. He'd almost been free, damn it! If it hadn't been for that blasted Namikaze, he wouldn't have found himself in such a situation as complete darkness to the world. Complete and utter isolation. What was worse, Kurama could feel himself losing consciousness. As if he was once again become part of the land itself. Just an essence without conceptual thought. A time long before he could truly remember. A time before_ _Ōtsutsuki_ _Hogoromo._

" _Just you wait." Kurama growled to the darkness. "Naruto."_

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 **A/N: So... Hi. lol I've written another chapter! Probably one of the shortest I've ever written (or it feels like it is. No... it probably is...) but it's something, ne? I'll eventually come back, edit this, and probably add more to it ('cause you know... time goes on, plots develop... all that jazz... but...) Yay! We'll see where this story takes us! The next chapter involves some fluffiness xD Anyway... Please R &R! Those just give me happy giggles. **

**And thank you to everyone who _has_ reviewed, favorited, and followed! Seriously makes my day like you'd never believe. :D **

**Also.. if you find you wanna read a little more Naruto stuff from me, I'm writing a collaborative story with RoyalVicTorie! It's kinda a crack-fic that will be developing some seriousness in it too. It's called "The Problem With Self-Inserts Is" So go check it out! :D**


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